29.11.17

North Korea claims nuclear statehood with US in missile range

This
handout photo taken on November 29, 2017 and provided by South Korean
Defence Ministry in Seoul shows South Korea’s missile system firing
Hyunmoo-2 missile into the East Sea from an undisclosed location on
South Korea’s east coast during a precision-strike missile exercise
aimed to counter North Korea’s missile test. North Korea test fired an
intercontinental ballistic missile on November 29, in a major challenge
to US President Donald Trump after he slapped fresh sanctions on
Pyongyang and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism. / AFP PHOTO /
South Korean Defence Ministry / handout /

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Wednesday his country had
achieved full nuclear statehood after what he said was the successful
test of a new missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch snapped a
two-month pause in testing by the North and poses a new challenge to US
President Donald Trump who has vowed such a capability “won’t happen”.
North Korean state television brought out Ri Chun-Hee, a star
presenter who only appears for significant developments, to announce the
landmark.

“Kim Jong-Un declared with pride that now we have finally realised
the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the
cause of building a rocket power,” she said.
“The great success in the test-fire of ICBM Hwasong-15 is a priceless
victory won by the great and heroic people of the DPRK,” she said,
using the official abbreviated name for North Korea.
Wednesday’s missile was more sophisticated than any previously tested, state media said.
“The ICBM Hwasong-15 type weaponry system is an intercontinental
ballistic rocket tipped with super-large heavy warhead which is capable
of striking the whole mainland of the US,” the North’s official news
agency KCNA said.
Pyongyang said the missile reached an altitude of 4,475 kilometres
(2,800 miles) and splashed down 950 kilometres from its launch site.
At least one Western expert said the missile’s lofted trajectory
suggested an actual range of 13,000 kilometres — enough to hit every
major US city.
Trump, who recently announced fresh sanctions on Pyongyang and
returned it to a US list of state sponsors of terror, was opaque in his
immediate response, as the UN Security Council agreed to meet in an
emergency session.
“I will only tell you that we will take care of it,” Trump said at
the White House. “It is a situation that we will handle,” he added,
without elaborating.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally and diplomatic protector
expressed “grave concern and opposition” to the launch, and once again
pressed its proposal that the North stop missile and nuclear tests in
exchange for a freeze of US military exercises.
Washington has repeatedly rejected the suggestion.– Global strike threat –
Wednesday’s launch was the North’s third successful ICBM test.
David Wright, an arms control expert and co-director at the Union of
Concerned Scientists, said the flight parameters pointed to a missile
with “more than enough range to reach Washington DC, and in fact any
part of the continental United States”.
There were scenes of jubilation in tightly controlled Pyongyang,
where residents gathered in front of a large screen to watch the news.
Jang Kwang Hyok, 32, said the test posed a question for the US president.
“I just want to ask a question to Trump: ‘Can you still dare to
backbite about our country?’ ‘Can you continue to do it even when
Hwasong-15 is fired to the US mainland?’,” he said.
While Pyongyang has yet to prove its mastery of the re-entry
technology required to bring a warhead back through the Earth’s
atmosphere, experts believe it is at least on the threshold of
developing a working intercontinental nuclear strike capability.
Wednesday’s statement from the North stressed the notion it had
become a fully fledged nuclear power and offered language redolent of a
“no first strike” doctrine.
Its weapons “would not pose any threat to any country and region as
long as the interests of the DPRK are not infringed upon. This is our
solemn declaration,” state media said.
Melissa Hanham, senior research associate with the East Asia
Nonproliferation Program of the Middlebury Institute, said this could
indicate a diplomatic off-ramp from the present standoff with the US.
“Perhaps this is an out,” she wrote on Twitter. “A way to say they’ve
achieved what they want, as long as we treat them the way they want to
be treated.”
She urged the global community to seize the opportunity.
“Diplomacy is worth the risk of failure, because to not engage them just gives them time to scale up.”– Competing strategies –
Tensions over the North’s weapons programme peaked after Pyongyang
conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September and then
fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan.
The Trump administration last week unveiled new sanctions targeting
North Korean shipping, as well a number of Chinese companies doing
business with the pariah state.

The US leader spoke by phone with both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-In after Wednesday’s test to
underline the global threat posed by North Korea.
Trump is close to Abe, but relations with his South Korean
counterpart — whom he has accused of appeasing Pyongyang — are far
cooler, and there are concerns in Seoul that the US president might be
considering military action against the North that could trigger a
full-scale war.
Seoul is home to 10 million people and only about 50 kilometres (30
miles) from the border — well within range of Pyongyang’s artillery.